STANLEY top scorer Jimmy Ryan is loving his football at the Fraser Eagle Stadium and has committed his future to the club.

The ex-Shrewsbury midfielder, who moved onto nine league goals with another long-range special against Port Vale on Tuesday, has been in negotiations about a new deal, as his one-year contract is up at the end of the season.

And a new deal is just a case of dotting I’s and crossing T’s.

Ryan said: "I am made up to get a new deal as, for the last two summers I have been trying to get a club so to know I am safe here, I am made up. We spoke a few times and it is more or less sorted now."

Liverpudlian Ryan has been a revelation since he came to Stanley to move one ahead of Paul Mullin in the scoring charts.

He said: "I thought at the start of the season I would like between eight and ten goals and there are a few games left now so hopefully I can get them and break into double figures.

"I have always liked to score and have shots. I don’t find it a high achievement trying to get to six as I have plenty of shots so they should go in."

And he is hoping the Reds will be challenging at the top end of the table next season as he admits this campaign has been tough.

"Personally I think we play some of the best football in the league but we just haven’t been putting them in the net, but hopefully that will come for us now in the run-in."

Skipper Peter Cavanagh said: "For many a year we’ve been saying that we need to spread the goalscoring burden. We had Gary Roberts and Ian Craney in the past and also Proccy chipped in but this year it’s been Jimmy. He’s been on the end of a lot of our set pieces and he has terrific technique."

Reds boss John Coleman said: "Jimmy’s deal is more or less agreed but it’s just a case of putting pen to paper. I think he benefits in slotting into the position he’s been playing in the team. He’s got a great work ethic and he loves his football."

Stanley were irresistible going forward in the first half hour of the Vale clash, and Coleman feels key players are motoring now.

"No-one can ever level at us that we don’t try our best and we are capable of putting on good football, it’s just a matter of confidence. We have always tried to foster that in the players. It’s just players being a bit more disciplined in their play."

The Reds face another double header week with promotion-chasing Exeter City and bogey team Darlington visiting tomorrow and on Tuesday respectively.

In-form City, who have only lost one of their last 10 games, have announced the loan signing of 23-year-old Championship striker Stuart Fleetwood from Charlton Athletic until the end of the season, but their defence will be without captain Matt Taylor who broke his foot during the midweek win over Bradford.

The Quakers, who have never dropped a point to Coleman’s side in five matches, returned to winning ways at Lincoln this week after a lean spell which coincided with a 10-point deduction for going into administration.

Coleman said: "We’re going into the Exeter game full of confidence. They’ve done brilliantly to get into the play-offs shake up and we know they will be coming to win the game, which actually suits us. We’re unbeaten in three and we played really well down at their place for the first half until the last 30 seconds of the first half and we really shouldn’t have lost that game."

He added: "Darlington will still be harbouring hopes of a late surge and getting into the play-offs but it’s a chance to lay the ghost of not taking a point off them."

In-form midfield fulcrum Andrew Procter is a doubt for the forthcoming games after he limped off straight after half-time against Port Vale. The Reds had previously thought it was a recurrence of his achilles problem and he might be able to get by with an injection, but it turned out to be a calf strain.

Coleman said: "Proccy has been playing really well and he has been in for treatment for the last two days so we will wait until Friday to see if he is available."